Abrigal S. Forrester, a panelist and the director of community action at the Madison Park Development Corporation, urged black Americans to improve their own neighborhoods to show solidarity in the face of overwhelming structural racism.

“My experience every day is the urgency of now,” Forrester said. “That young man who’s carrying a gun in Roxbury or Dorchester, who feels like he’s worth nothing… What I can say to him is, ‘Baby boy, the gig can stop. You don’t have to keep hurting yourself. We love you.’”

See the full article as it appeared in the Harvard Crimson here.